As Democrats forced a government shutdown, The Washington Post Editorial Board issued a warning — which apparently fell on deaf ears — predicting that their strategy was likely to backfire and ultimately favor President Donald Trump.
According to the Post, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had attempted to split the baby in the final hours, asking whether others in his party might be amenable to a short-term agreement that would buy them more time to negotiate — and he was met with an adamant refusal from Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX): “Hell no.”
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party — along with a number of far-left media personalities — blamed Schumer for “caving” to Republicans during the last shutdown battle, after he argued it was better to keep the government open than risk a shutdown over demands the GOP-controlled Congress would never accept. But with the looming threat of a primary from his left — which could potentially involve self-described Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — Schumer has thus far allowed the progressives to drive the current shutdown fight.
But that refusal to negotiate may come back to bite progressive Democrats in the very near future, the Post argued, comparing the Progressive Caucus to the Freedom Caucus on the Republican side of the aisle.
“Progressives embraced the same disastrous mentality that led the House Freedom Caucus to believe it could come out ahead in previous government funding standoffs: They wrongly assumed their political leverage would withstand the ensuing fallout,” the Post explained. “Left-wing Democrats, like the Freedom Caucus before them, enter this shutdown in a position of weakness. President Donald Trump and his budget director, Russell Vought, now have extraordinary authority to choose which agencies to close, what spending to prioritize and even which government workers to lay off.”
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President Trump also warned Democrats ahead of the shutdown to be careful what they wished for, adding, “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible.”
Indeed, the Post’s Editorial Board is predicting that Trump will absolutely make good on that promise — and he’s likely to do so in a way that “maximizes pain” for the Democrats who continue to embrace the role of “roadblock” to his administration’s agenda.
“The Freedom Caucus’s tactics have failed to achieve Republicans’ goals every time. There is no reason to think this shutdown will end any differently for its left-wing counterpart. The most likely outcome is that Democrats will come to regret having just walked into a trap,” the Board concluded.
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